Capillary bottle-stopper.



S. SGH'IFF. OAPILLARY BOTTLE STOPPER.

APILIOATION FILED FEB.18,1913

1,127,812. v Patented Fem, 1915.

1 5 8 [raven Z'br:

THE NORRIS PETERS 50.. PHOTC LITHO.. WASHINGTON, D. C

GAPILLARY BOTTLE-STOPPER.

Application filed February 18, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIGMUND SGHIFF, a subject of the King of Hungary, residing in New York city, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Capillary Bottle- Stoppers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to enable me to make coacting bottles and stoppers which will not undesirably hinder the pouring of liquid from such bottles, but will render it impracticable to refill them and prevent them from being fraudulently used. I attain this end in a simpler, more reliable and eiiicient manner than was hitherto known, by making use (for the first time in this art) of closure by capillary action. To this end I provide coacting capillary surfaces in the bottle neck and on a capillary valve of piston or plural-disk type, the valves and the corresponding neck formation being adapted to cheap and reliable production by the interchangeable parts system, commercially accurate in size and finish, by well known methods. The valves are made with discoid members, having functioning surfaces separated by shallow recesses (and connected by axial guides), and the bottle neck with contractions or rings having co-acting surfaces also separated by shallow recesses. WVhen the disccid and ring co-acting surfaces register, the capillary resistance is maximum, and the closure is complete. When the valve is open the discoids and rings coincide with the recesses andform therewith a narrow sinuous passage of minimum capillary resistance, such that, although liquid can be poured from the bottle, it cannot be re filled. In the practical use of bottles fitted with my capillary closure, I get the best action by making the recessessmall and shallow, and find that the axial guides or ribs enhance the capillarity. In the passage so formed, the liquid forms a thin tubular film, and I find that the axial guides or ribs separate the thin liquid tube between the valve and the neck into segments, practically into drops whose weights are not great enough to overcome the surface tension of the liquid and each of which acts to close a part of the passage independently of and unaffected by the others. If the bottle be Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb a, 1915.

Serial No. 749,086.

immersed with the valve open (as for pouring), liquid will tend to pass through the sinuous passage and move the valve to its seat or stop.

It is known that in order to seat contact or puppet valves, the pressure exerted on them must exceed that of the liquid; and therefore it is usual to provide springs or weights to seat them. All supplemental seating agents are superfluous with my capillary valves, even when they are provided with contact seats, because the valve itself does such work perfectly. The resist ance to the entry of liquids of the first capillary pair (a neck-ring and valve discoid) balances at certain position of the exterior pressure, as do the succeeding capillary pairs; and if they be su'liiciently numerous, the effect of the pressure is completely nullified.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 to i inclusive are axial sections of the neck and upper part of a bottle; Fig. 1 showing the bottle upright with the valve closed to prevent refilling; Fig. 2 shows the bottle inverted and the valve closed by its capillary resistance to the entrance of liquid; Fig. 8 is a clown-tilted bottle with its contained liquid pouring out; and, Fig. I a slightly modified construction. Fig. 5 is a perspective of the valve; Fig. 6 a transverse section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1, showing the preferred valve, whichcontains a float; Fig. 7 is a top view of the guard; and, Fig. 8 is a transverse section of a valve with its separator of starsection.

In the practice of my invention, I provide a capillary valve 10 which may be described either as a piston or cylindrical valve formed with end and intermediate capillary faces 11, which are shown cy1indrical but are not necessarily so and which may he joined by axial guide faces 12 (which are not essential to a working apparatus), and having chambers 13 separating adjacent capillary faces 11 (and guide faces 12 if there be the latter) or as a plural-disk valve having a plurality of capillary cylindrical faces 11 on disks 1.1 spaced and united by separators 12 which may be of star section, as illustrated, in which case their finished faces may form the valve guides 12, chamberslS being thus formed between adjacent disks and separator-arms;

but which are preferably a hollow prism containing an air space, 11*, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and constituting a float, f, combined with my valve 1.0, so that its total weight may be approximately equal to that of the water it displaces. In some cases the float f may project beyond the discoid members or be in two parts exterior to and connected with them, the object of said float being to enable me to produce a perfectly balanced valve, which floats or almost floats when immersed, so that it will move with the moving liquid, as a part of it, however gentle its motion may be. A valve so constructed will seat itself perfectly if refilling be attempted under any conditions whatsoever. I may allow the edges of the float f to form-my guides 11*, or if I make it cylindrical, they may be on axial ribs formed on it.

The drawings show the discoid members 11 all equal in diameter. This feature is non-essential- Their diameters may be graduated with the first to be entered into the bottle neck the smallest, provided the coacting neck surfaces be made to correspond. To produce a bottle adapted to the use of a valve of such a general character, I form in its neck (Figs. 13),-0r in the attached member 25 (Fig. 4) ,by locally contracting its diameter, a plurality of rings, 20, with capillary faces 21 adapted to coact with the capillary valve-faces 11, and, if these be cylindrical, corresponding in spacing and diameters thereto; and annular enlargements or chambers 23 between them,

the valve and bottle neck being thus adapted to efl'ect closure by capillary action, and provide an interior stop or steps 24, to prevent the valve 10 from slipping into the bottle, which stop may be a bead or shoulder, or a plurality of teats or if desired, a valve seat; and to retain the valve in the neck, I provide a tubular guard, 30, which, when the rings 20 are formed integral with the bottle may be a separate attached member, as illustrated, and when the rings 20 are formed in an attached member 25, the guard may: be either integral therewith or a separate attached member thereto, as is illustrated in Fig. 4. F or securing the attached member, or the guard, to the bottle, I form exterior beads or flanges 26 on the members to be connected, and unite them with a spun or rolled pinch band, 27 or in any other approved manner.

To make it impossible for any one to move and retain the valve out of sealing position with a hook or other instrument inserted through the guard 30, I form the discharge passage 31 therein, sinuous, preferably as illustrated, by providing in it a diaphragm, 32, with an opening 33 therein considerably smaller in diameter than the adjacent disk 11 of the valve, and preferably spaced as far distant from the adjacent ring 20 as the distance separating said rings, so as to form an outer annular chamber 23 like the interior ones; and I provide an axial stem 34 united to the guard 30 and diaphragm, having a rounded inner end adapted to form a stop for the valve 10, to which-it cannot adhere and which will stop it in discharging position; and terminating exterior to the bars 35 in a discoid baflle member 36, equal in diameter to the diaphragm opening 33; and I extend the tubular body 37 of the guard 30 considerably outside of the discoid baflie member 36, to so increase the difliculty of working at the valve 10 and to enable me to apply a metal cap to the guard 30, to prevent leakage during shipment; and further, as illustrated in Fig. 4, in some cases, to cork the bottle with a common cork.

The operation of my capillary bottle stopper follows: lVhen the bottle contains liquid to be poured out, the bottle is tipped (Fig. 3) and its own weight and the static liquid pressure automatically advance the valve 10 so that its discoids 11 are intermediate between the neck rings 20, and a free (howbeit sinuous) passage is formed through the neck chambers or enlargements 23 and interdiscoid valve chambers or spaces 13, around the discoids and rings respectively, 11 and 20. If refilling be attempted with the bottle upright (Fig. 1) or upwardly inclined, the weight of the valve 10 automatically retracts it against the interior stop 24, so that its capillary faces 11 register with the like neck faces 21, and the bottle will be effectually sealed against refilling, as is obvious to those familiar with the behavior of air and liquids in confined passages and especially capillary passages. If my apparatus be made with only one pair of coacting capillary surfaces 11 and 21 on the valve and on the bottle respectively, it will prevent refilling with a liquid subject to a light pressure. I illustrate apparatus adapted to general use with a series of (three) such coacting faces. lVhen these surfaces coact, each pair offers a capillary resistance to the entrance of liquid which will balance and nullify a part of the liquid pressure and in practice three such resist ances will completely balance and nullify any liquid pressure practicable to use in attempted refilling, or in other words, will entirely exclude liquid from the bottle.

My series of coacting capillary surfaces constitute so many stages or steps of resistance to the entry of liquid into the bottle. If the pressure obtaining in the liquid exterior to the bottle be light, the first stage of capillarv'resistance will sutfice to balance and nullify it so that no liquid can pass it and enter the outward inter-discoid chamhere 13 and 23. If the liquid pressure were sufficiently increased, some liquid might pass the first stage of'resistance and fill said outward chamber with liquid under a reduced pressure, which would be balanced and nullified by the second stage of capillary re sistance so that no liquid could pass farther inward; and it is found in practice that no practicable refilling pressure can overcome the total resistance of my capillary series. If refilling be attempted with the bottle inverted or downwardly inclined (Fig. 2),the liquid pressure will instantly automatically close the valve and render refilling impossible, for the reasons recited in the first case. The valve will be automatically instantaneously closed by fluid impact upon its discoid members if liquid pressure be suddenlyap plied to it. If refilling be attempted with the valve open and a very slight pressure, as for example if the bottle'be barely immersed horizontal or nearly so, or under any other conditions which will cause the valve to be advanced, the fluid action on the valve will be hydraulic for the very brief period during which it is moving to its closed position. During such movement, because the float y nullifies the action of gravity on the valve and balances it by so increasing its displacement that the weight of the liquid displaced substantially equals the weight of the valve, it will move with, and so to speak, as a part of, the liquid; and further, the hydraulic pressure will act, not only on the outer discoid but also on the total outward area of the valve; and acting on the large total out-- ward area, the slightest pressure or movement of this liquid will suffice to move the balanced valve to closed position, "after which refilling will be impossible for reasons before recited. I have found in practice that only a drop or two of liquid will pass the closed valve, the inter-discoid spaces will generally (but not invariably) become filled, and as the valve retracts toward and reaches its closed position, the liquid pressure will pass from hydraulic to static, firstly, exterior to the valve and subsequently, progressively, in the outward and inward inter-discoid spaces,

The connected-discoid type of valve (considering its mode of action, above explained) enables me to make valves of the most suitable material, 6., glass, which act practically instantaneously, even though glass is 2.6 times as dense as water. I desire to call attention to the superiority of my plural-discoid, capillary valve over puppet and contact valves for this purpose, especially when the operative liquid pressure is very light. Under said circumstances, a puppet or other contact valve which is just barely off its seat, cannot be seated by the liquid pressure alone, because of the capillary and hydraulic conditions existing in the thin film of liquid separating the valve from its seat. Extraneous force, or a sufficient movement of the valve to give it momentum, is necessary to completely seat it, and lacking one of these, the valve will drip; whereas under such conditions my valve will automatically close as above set forth.

I may grind the inward margin of the valve and the stop 24: (in such case made annular) and thus form supplementary, interiorly-acting contact valve, which mode enables me to make the valve an easy fit and cheapen the cost without impairing the efliciency of my closure.

W'hen bottles provided with my capillary stoppers are used for liquids, the consumption of which extends through a considerable time, it will not be necessary to cork the bottle with an additional stopper in order to prevent the contained liquid from evaporating or becoming fiat, because when the liquid is poured and the bottle is subsequently raised upright a few drops will necessarily remain exterior to the valve, and these few drops will be sufiicient to fill the capillary spaces and perfectly seal the bottle, and prevent evaporation and air circulation.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patient, is

1. An automatically-operating bottle closure comprising a ring in the bottle neck formed with a. capillary surface, a discoid member formed with a corresponding capillary surface and adapted to be moved to register and to separate saidcapillary surfaces, and two stops adapted respectively to stop said discoid in registering and in nonregistering position relatively to said surfaces.

2. An automatically-operating bottle closure comprising, in and integral with the bottle neck, a ring formed with a capillary surface, a discoid member formed with a corresponding capillary surface and adapted to be moved. to register and to separate said capillary surfaces, and two stops adapted respectively to stop said discoid in registering and in non-registering position, relatively to said surfaces. 7 3. An automaticallyoperating bottle closure comprising a plurality of contracted rings in the bottle neck, a plurality of connected discoid members adapted to fit in and register and to be moved; out of register with said rings, a stop adapted to stop the discoid members in closed position, and a stop adapted to stop said discoid embers in open position,

4. An automatically-operating bottle closure comprising a plurality of contracted rings formed in the bottle neck, a plurality of connected discoid members adapted to fit in and register and to be moved out of register with said rings, a stop adapted to stop the discoid members in closed position, a stop adapted to stop said discoid members in open position, and a tubular member attached to and extending the bottle neck.

5. An automatically-operating bottle closure, comprising a plurality of contracted rings in the bottle neck, a plurality of connected discoid members adapted to fit in and register and to be moved out of register with said rings, axially-extending guides between said discoid members, a stop adapted to stop said discoid members in closed position,and a stop adapted to stop said discoid members in open position.

6. An automatically-operating bottle closure, comprising a plurality of contracted rings in the bottle neck, a plurality of connected discoid members adapted to lit in and register and to be moved out of register with said rings, a stop adapted to stop said discoid, members in closed position, a stop adapted to stop said discoid members in open position, a guard exterior to the stopper, anda sinuous discharge passage formed in said guard.

7. An automatically-operating bottle closurecomprising a tubular extension of the bottle, a plurality of contracted rings in said extension, a plurality of connected discoid members adapted to fit in and register and to be moved'out of register with said rings, a stop adapted to stop the discoid members in closed position, and a stop adapted to stop said discoid members in open position, having its inner opening adjacent to the axis and its outer opening adjacent to the outside of said guard.

8. An automatically-operating bottle closure comprising a contracted ring in the bottle neck, a discoid member adapted to fit in and register and to be moved out of regis ter with said ring, a stop adapted to stop said discoid in closed position, a stop adapted to stop said discoid in open position, and, exterior to the last-named stop a tubular guard, and, integral with said guard, an inner diaphragm, an axial stem extending inwardly and outwardly from said diaphragm, and a discoid on the outer end of said stem, said guard, stem and diaphragmforming a sinuous discharge passage- 9. An automatically-operable capillary bottle-stopper comprising a tubular neck member having a plurality of capillary surfaces formed therein, a plurality of con-v stop, the valve member with the capillary surfaces in and out of functioning position.

10. A tubular bottle-neck member, a capillary valve, connectingv series of capillary surfaces on the neck member and on the valve, and stops adapted respectively to stop the valve with the series of capillary surfaces co-acting and separated.

11. A tubular bottle-neck member, a capillary valve, a series of neck-contractions, capillary surfaces thereon, a corresponding series of discoid members on the valve, capillary surfaces thereon adapted, to coact with the, capillary surfaces on the neck-contractions, and stops, one adapted to stop the valve with the series of capillary surfaces eoacting, and one adapted to stop the valve with the series, of capillary surfaces separated. j

12.v A new article of manufacture, a capillary-action valve for bottles adapted to co act by capillarity with capillary surfaces formed on contracted rings in bottle-necks and comprising a discoid member having a capillary surfacethereon, a float, and axial guides.

' 13. A new article of manufacture, a capillary-action valve for bottles adapted to. coact by capillarity with capillary surfaces formed on contracted rings in bottle-necks and comprising a series of discoid members having capillary surfaces thereon and a hollow prismatic separator spacing said discoids. I

14. A new article of manufacture, a capillary action valve for bottles adapted to co act. by capillarity with capillary surfaces formed on contracted rings in bottle-necks and comprising a series of discoid members having capillary surfaces thereon and a float.

15. A new article of manufacture, a capillary action valve for bottles adapted to co act by capillarity with capillary surfaces formed on contracted rings in bottle-necks and comprising a series of discoids having capillary surfaces thereon, a hollow prismatic separator and axial guides.

16. A new article of manufacture, a capillary action valve for bottles adapted to: coact by capillarity with capillary surfaces formed on contracted rings in. bottle-necks and comprising a piston and discoid piston.

member having capillary surfaces thereon.v

SIGMUND SCHI'FF.

lVitnesses:

S. D. PENNEY, JOHN MORRIS.

Copies of this patent may be olatailmcl'v for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissionercfv Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

